A Ramsey County jury deadlocked in the sex-trafficking case of Otis Deno Washington — after the forewoman erroneously gave the judge a verdict form that said he was “not guilty” of one charge.

The highly unusual incident capped nearly a week of deliberations by the jury, which told Judge Rosanne Nathanson twice Monday afternoon that it could not reach a verdict. She told them both times to keep trying.

They deliberated all day Tuesday and Wednesday, returning Thursday morning.

Prosecutor Karen Kugler said the county attorney’s office will retry the case. It is scheduled to begin Sept. 6.

Washington, 29, was charged with five counts of sex trafficking: one count for each of three women and a 15-year-old girl who were named as victims, and a fifth count of conspiracy to commit felony sex trafficking. He worked with his brother, the prosecution alleged.

When the jury came into the courtroom Thursday, the forewoman said the group had reached agreement on one of the sex-trafficking charges. After the judge read the “not guilty” verdict form, she asked the standard question, “Members of the jury, is this your true and correct verdict?”

At least two jurors shot up their hands.

“No,” one male and one female juror said. The woman spoke again, sitting up straight in her chair, “It is not. It is not.”

Former chief Judge Kathleen Gearin said that in her 26-1/2 years on the bench, she has never seen a juror disagree in court with a stated verdict.

“I had a murder case where one man audibly hesitated” when the panel was asked if they agreed with the verdict, Gearin said.

“In that case, we asked them individually, and he hesitated and hesitated,” she said. “He finally said, ‘Yes, it is (my verdict).’ ”

In a casual survey of senior prosecutors in the Ramsey County attorneys office, they recalled no similar incidents in recent years, said office spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein.

“It’s not out of the question, but it sure is unusual,” he said. “We’re pleased that these two jurors had the courage to stand up and speak their mind.”

The panel was dismissed from the courtroom after the two stated their disagreement. They returned 15 minutes later with another note: Deadlocked. All five counts.

Otis Washington acted as his own attorney in the case.

Each of the women and girls named as victims testified at the trial. They are:

— A 20-year-old, Otis Washington’s ex-girlfriend, who said he threatened and forced her to sell her body for sex after he met her at a downtown St. Paul bus stop. She was 18 when they met; he suggested they go to church for their first date, she said.

— A 20-year-old woman with a cognitive disorder who had left her home in Wisconsin and traveled to the Twin Cities. She was standing near a bus stop on Rice Street in St. Paul when Washington drove by, turned around and struck up a conversation, she said. He offered to give her a ride to Minneapolis, but instead took her to the Highway Motel in St. Paul, where he raped her, she testified. That same day, he posted prostitution ads for her on Backpage.com.

— An 18-year-old invited in July 2012 by Washington to the home of Washington’s uncle, in the 600 block of Hawthorne Avenue in St. Paul, a day after he approached her near a bar at Maryland and Payne avenues. He told her she was “cute,” and he wanted to get to know her, she said. At the house, she saw other girls give money to Washington and talk about prostituting, she testified. Washington wanted her to do so as well. She has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, she told the jury.

— A 15-year-old girl invited by the 18-year-old to go to the Washington house to smoke pot. Otis Washington “showed me the ads he had placed on Backpage for some girls,” she testified, and offered to do the same for her. That night, Washington took her and her 18-year-old friend along with his girlfriend to meet a customer in Minneapolis and another in Inver Grove Heights. The girlfriend went inside to perform sex acts for the men, the girl testified.

Prosecutor David Pinto told the jury that it was not necessary for a sex-for-money transaction to have taken place in order to find Washington guilty of sex trafficking. Minnesota law defines sex trafficking as the “receiving, recruiting, enticing, harboring, providing, or obtaining by any means an individual to aid in the prostitution of the individual.”

Otis Washington maintained his innocence, denying statements the prosecution said he made during his interview with police and repeatedly challenging the prosecution to play the recording.

Not showing the interview was a tactical decision by the county attorney’s office, said spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein.

Also charged in the case were Washington’s brother, Antonio Washington-Davis; their uncles, Calvin Ray Washington and Robert James Washington; and Elizabeth Ann Alexander, the mother of Antonio Washington-Davis’ children.

Both uncles have pleaded guilty. Antonio Washington-Davis was prepared to plead guilty on Monday, his attorney said, but backed out during the hearing. Another appearance is scheduled for him Monday.

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